The high school junior was apprehensive about appearing on the school superintendent's weekly YouTube show.

Dana Walker had spent the previous weeks opposing the district leader's plans to move away from block scheduling at Shepaug Valley High School. Unable to persuade officials, Walker said she felt defeated — and concerned about facing the superintendent, whose policy she had criticized so vocally.

But the Bridgewater student found the courage after attending a daylong symposium on women and leadership held last weekend at New York's Barnard College. The so-called TEDx (Technology, Entertainment and Design) talk, in which speakers spread ideas through stimulating presentations, have become a phenomenon in education and corporate society. Many are videotaped and posted on the web.

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